Landon 70 Flint Hill 71

Landon Basketball 71 Flint Hill 70 By Vernon Holleman

Yesterday, the Bears lost their fourth game of the year by 3 points or less to a much bigger Flint Hill team. The Bears started off slowly again, but came back huge in the second half after being down by 14 points at halftime. However, they fell just short of completing a huge comeback that would’ve given the Bears a second win against a MAC school this year, and another win for the IAC in the IAC/MAC challenge.

The Bears started off the game slow, as they have many games this year. They couldn’t seem to stop the much more physical and taller Flint Hill men in the post. Flint Hill made layup after layup in the beginning of the first quarter. However, Miles Davis kept the Bears in the game with 8 huge points off of  mid range jumpers that allowed the Bears to be down only 16-20 at the end of the first.

The Bears would then have their off quarter, as they seem to do every game. Flint Hill made more easy layups, and the Bears committed unforced turnovers that would allow the Huskies to take a big 18 point lead in the second quarter.  Kino Lilly came up big, and hit two big threes that earned the Bears a manageable deficit in the second half with the score at halftime being 26-40.

The second half is where the Bears really began to get back into the grove of playing Landon Basketball. After shooting just 28% from the field in the first two quarters, the Bears really came back and got that team percentage up to 40% for the game in the second half. Not great, but the second half brought great shooting from Justin Patterson, Miles Davis, and Kino Lilly, who all scored double digits which combined for 55 of the Bears’ 70 points. In this quarter, the defense was also a lot better, and the Bears were able to stop the Huskies in the paint, and reduce the deficit that most people thought was impossible to overcome. The Bears trailed 46-53 entering the final quarter.

The final quarter was one of the best the Bears have played all year. They played great defense, and the offense was very physical and took charge over the Huskies. Kino Lilly and Miles Davis hit so many big shots just when the Bears thought they were out of it. Canin Reynolds hit a 3 to reduce the deficit to just 1. The Huskies then went down and came immediately back with a 3, under a minute, and the game seemed over. However, Kino hit a deep 3 that rattled around the rim and fell to reduce the deficit back to just 1. The Huskies then hit a shot, but Justin Patterson responded with a physical layup to give the ears a chance with 45 seconds. The Huskies then hit 2 key free throws. Miles Davis responded with a critical mid range shot to give the Bears 70 points, their most since December 13th against the Heights. Flint Hill then missed the front end of a one and one, and the Bears had the ball with 13 seconds, only needing a 2 to win and secure a huge comeback. Miles Davis had the ball, and looked like he would score his 25th point of the game to win. However, a very physically contested shot fell just short, and a scramble on the court would see the clock expire, and the Bears would lose another very close game.

The Bears return to action on Monday January 8th against Takoma Academy at home. The Bears have struggled against Takoma the last few years, and look to get a big win in a week that they will play 3 games in just 5 days.